Nigeria Government decides to ban on importation of barite from Morocco

The Nigerian minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite has announced that his government is planning to ban the importation of barite from Morocco, according to a news report by Yabiladi.com.

The decision is expected to help the West African country save foreign exchange for other purposes.

Adegbite has revealed that his country imports USD300 million worth of barite annually from Morocco.

Nigeria uses barite in the oil and gas industry as a weighting agent for drilling fluids in the upstream sector.

Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria has banned the importation of maize for the same reason as Nigeria aims to save foreign exchange in an era of falling oil revenue and OPEC production cuts.

"We have barite all over the country (in Nasarawa, Cross River States); so, why can't we produce our barite. There are standards required by the industry and we have it, "said Olamilekan Adegbite.

Morocco is one of the world's largest producers of this mineral alongside China, India and the United States. Barite is extracted from mines located in the Midelt region.